April 2024 – Matteo Sartori

ROWER OF THE MONTH – Last year Italy’s Matteo Sartori qualified the men’s double sculls for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games – following in the wake of his three-time Olympic medal-winning father Alessio. Fresh off a silver medal at the 2024 World Rowing Cup I, Matteo Sartori is our Rower of the Month.

How influential was your father for you?

I started rowing in 2012 when he won the silver medal at the Olympics in London. I was 10 years old. I started to row for the Fiammegialle club. My father is a legend, for me an inspiration. He’s a very good athlete, and he’s a symbol for me. My father wrote the pages of his book, now I’m writing the pages of my book.

What do you enjoy about rowing?

I like the pressure of the race. I like when I’m very positive for the race, and I like the adrenalin. Also the water, for me, it’s life.

Why do you enjoy racing the double sculls?

It’s tradition for me, because of my father. I like the seat, now I’m the stroke man. I did a lot of racing in the quadruple sculls in 2021 and 2022. In 2021 we took the silver medal at the under-23 World Championships, and in 2022 in Varese we took the gold medal. So I like the quadruple sculls a lot, but now I prefer the double sculls.

What makes you and Luca Rambaldi a successful combination?

He’s a perfectionist. He has a very good mindset and I try to copy that mentality, for training, for racing. For me it’s a very good asset. I am young, and when you are young you run fast. This is a good combination because as a perfectionist he’s very calm and I’m a little bit crazy.

What was it like qualifying the boat for Paris and finishing fourth at the 2023 World Rowing Championships?

The boat was feeling good, we had a good feeling. We had opponents of a good level. The Netherlands are an incredible crew; Croatia, the Sinkovic brothers are an incredible crew. Ireland had a good race last year in Belgrade, we met throughout the year. We won a lot of races with Ireland, but they won the most important last year.

Maybe the fourth place is not a good place, but we are focused this year on our goals.

What are your goals for the season?

Arriving at the Olympics at 100 per cent. Now, me and Luca [Rambaldi] are at a good level, not an optimal level but a good level. We hope to have a great season.

What is your favourite training session?

On the erg, 3000m 10 times. It’s at 22 strokes a minute for 30 kilometres, and you push hard for 30km, and I like it. Three minutes’ rest.

What music do you listen to on the erg?

I have a lot of music that I listen to. Pop – Rihanna, Will.i.am, Eminem. I like this genre.

What is the most useful piece of advice you have been given?

A coach told me to focus on the boat, not on the opponents, and push very hard – whatever it takes.

Where is your favourite place to row?

Varese. All the races I’ve done here I have a good feeling – the Italian championships, World Championships, World Cup, I have always a good feeling. I won the under-23 World Championships here.

I like the weather, the water, the lake, the people. We are in Italy and so this is amazing, a very warm place.